A recent Wall Street Journal report suggests that Twitch's top streamers are earning around $50 an hour playing video games. It is noteworthy that this impressive amount is not the limit, but only the average value of the hourly earnings of a popular streamer.
The report also says that companies such as Activision, Blizzard, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are constantly collaborating with leading streamers. Cooperation with streamers is due to the need to attract the interest of users to a particular project. This means that popular streamers often cover projects not only because of their personal passion for the game.
Industry sources spoken to by Kotaku revealed that $50 per hour of live streaming is not the maximum. When it comes to long-term partnerships between streamers and game publishers, royalties can run into the six-figure and even seven-figure amounts. Specific examples are not given because information about transactions is confidential. However, the CEO of Online Performers Group, Omeed Dariani, who represents various streamers, said that he had received an offer from the AAA publisher, which included a fee of $60 per hour for a two-hour stream. After the offer was rejected, the publisher sent a blank check, in which the streamer himself could enter the amount that suits him.
Followers of popular streamers trust the opinions of their favorites, which they believe are expressed honestly and sincerely. However, companies that sponsor live video game broadcasts are able to influence the opinion of the streamer. In some cases, the publisher may provide the game to the streamer before the broadcast so that he can familiarize himself with it and form a certain point of view about the project.
Streaming services and their audiences play an important role in publishers' marketing plans. However, ordinary users may not always notice the influence of the publisher on the opinion of the person conducting the live broadcast. A Reuters report reveals that Electronic Arts paid Tyler Ninja Blevins $1 million to play Apex Legends in the first few days of the game's release.
The interest of video game publishers is understandable, since a huge number of people follow the broadcasts of popular streamers. A streamer's review of a project can influence a consumer's decision to buy a game. More marketing is lurking behind the scenes of live broadcasts, and it's becoming harder for ordinary users to determine how sincere a streamer is behaving during broadcasts.
Source: 3dnews.ru